


We Are The Freaks

by Dollars_tore



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: (Why is that not a tag? Part 2), (Why is that not a tag?), A knife - Freeform, Ajin Karma, Ajin Nagisa, Ajins have red eyes, Akabane Karma Needs a Hug, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Because AssClass, Because unfortunately Hiromi & Gakuhou exist, Blood and Gore, But they still exist so the tag's necessary, Cannibalism, Character Death, Dismemberment, Except Korosensei, Ghoul Itona, Ghoul Kaede, Ghoul Nagisa, Horibe Itona Needs a Hug, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kayano Kaede Needs a Hug, Korosensei loves his feral children, Look this is not a happy AU, Maybe - Freeform, Nagisa what you got there?, Other, Shiota Nagisa Needs a Hug, Suicide, The four of them have the odd feral moment, There will be happy moments, They don't stay dead for long, They won't be appearing much - Freeform, Tokyo Ghoul AU, Violence, ajin au, but don't worry, but still, no!, not a happy AU, okay i'll stop, we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28714740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dollars_tore/pseuds/Dollars_tore
Summary: They weren’t human; they lived their lives in the shadows for showing their faces to the light was sure to end in disaster. Their very nature branded them as enemies of the government, the same government who they were supposed to be aiding.
Relationships: Akabane Karma/Shiota Nagisa
Comments: 9
Kudos: 68





	1. A Day In The Life

**Author's Note:**

> The calm before the storm.

He sealed the bag with a single strip of tape, using his dwindling supply of medical wipes to clean the counter, not wanting to see his mother’s reaction to finding so much blood in his room. He slipped the knife into the sheaf one of the others had gifted him, dropping it in the small backpack before cleaning up the mess on the side of his head. The boy knew he could’ve just let the wounds heal naturally but that would mean dealing with the hunger, and that was something he couldn’t afford, not now. He heard his phone buzz and halted his preparations to check it.

**> KK: **Are we still on for tonight?

**> IH: **why wouldn’t we be?

**> KK: **Just making sure

**> KK: **The gangs have been more active lately.

**> AK: **wonder what’s got them so riled

**> IH: **does it really matter?

**> KK: **I guess not.

He pulled the mask over his head with a sigh, being careful not to disturb the wig as he tightened the straps, it only covered the lower half of his face but it did its job just fine. The boy double checked the lock on his door before grabbing the backpack and climbing out his window. He took a final glance to make sure he hadn’t been noticed then he was off.

***-* *-* *-***

Their meeting spot wasn’t anything special; it couldn’t be, especially not now. As expected, he was the second one to arrive, dropping into the alleyway and nodding a silent greeting to the boy leaning against the wall. Frost, as the media had dubbed him – the alias stemming from his naturally white hair – was easily the most familiar with the streets; they hadn’t pried too much into his life but he hadn’t really tried to hide that he felt more comfortable with the mask than without it.

“Hope we didn’t keep you two waiting.” A cheery voice called softly from deeper in the alley, he felt a grin forming beneath his mask as an arm draped itself over his shoulders while the speaker latched onto Frost’s arm before directing a smile at him. Chameleon was the only girl in their group and the only one without a proper mask, instead opting to wrap bandages over her eyes – leaving enough of a gap to see through – and cover the rest of her face in paint, never using the same pattern twice.

“Usual spot?” The boy hanging off him asked, though none of them felt the need to answer. Devil, though not a ghoul himself was still a core part of their little group; largely because other ghouls knew to stay away when he was near.

They were silent as they walked, making sure to stick to the alleyways and less-busy streets, not daring to speak up until they’d long since replaced concrete pavements with the dense woodland framing a path up the mountain. There was a building up there, one he knew well, but none of them dared to go near it; as difficult as it was to imagine, there was no way to guarantee that the place would be completely empty even this late at night. They keep going until they reach the clearing just before a cliff, their place has only one noteworthy landmark and that’s the strange tree growing outward from the mountain side.

“Hey Snake, you got the stuff?” He rolled his eyes as he slipped the backpack from his shoulders, tossing the bag inside to Chameleon and Frost while pretending not to notice Devil swiping the knife. He didn’t watch them eat, partly because that was a creepy thing to do, and partly because he didn’t exactly want to see his friends eat body parts that used to be his. He felt something prod his cheek and mock-glared at the redhead currently holding out a bloody mess of meat.

“You need to eat too.” Pain laced the boy’s tone but he could still detect the sincerity, he sighed in defeat, unclasping his mask before accepting the chunk. He ignored the wet gurgle while he choked the meat down – eating human meat was still difficult, regardless of how necessary it was – only glancing at Devil again when he heard the familiar gasping that accompanied revival.

“So, what should we do?” Chameleon asked as she headed over to them, Frost wasn’t far behind, already pulling his full-face mask back down as he placed the empty bag in the backpack. He slipped it back over his shoulders, letting Chameleon readjust his wig before fastening the mask back over his face.

“How much time do we have?” Frost’s voice was muffled slightly by his mask but they heard him just fine, Devil hummed in thought as he glanced as his watch, red eyes squinting in the dark.

“A few hours, unless any of you have plans tomorrow.” They all exchanged brief glances at that, as long as he was home before daybreak he’d be fine and none of the others looked worried – well, Devil and Chameleon didn’t, it was hard to tell with Frost even when he wasn’t wearing the mask.

“I’m guessing we won’t be sparing today?” Snake merely shook his head, sure it’d probably be fine if they were careful, but they couldn’t risk causing too much of a mess tonight, not with the agencies being this active.

“That’s a shame.” Devil hummed, flopping back on the grass to stare at the sky. He shook his head in amusement, not needing to look to know the other two were doing the same. He took a seat next to the red head, letting out a sound akin to that of a surprised kitten when he felt himself being yanked against the boy’s chest. He glared at the other two who were trying, and failing – _cough_ Chameleon _cough_ – to muffle their laughter. Chameleon lay down on Devil’s other side, playfully kicking his leg before folding her arms behind her head. Frost sat down a little further from them, far enough to avoid accidentally touching one of them but near enough to not appear isolated.

Snake was just about to speak up when a bright flash of light had them scrambling to their feet. They all turned their attention to the sky and froze, a sense of foreboding flooding their minds.

What happened to the moon?


	2. The Countdown Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korosensei makes his appearance.
> 
> Also please note that I will be mixing sub & dub dialogue in certain areas from this point onward.

Despite what happened a few nights ago, his routine was largely unchanged; get up, get ready, hope his mom was already gone, and be careful not to slip up. The trek up the mountain was the same as usual, oddly more tiring in the morning than at night, but manageable. Kaede caught up to him around the halfway point, green hair not covered by a wig and there wasn’t a speck of face-paint in sight.

“Morning.” She sounded a tad too energetic, not that it really surprised him, for as long as they’d known each other she’d always been a morning person as ironic as that sounded. He nodded his own greeting, smiling when she latched onto his arm, the other two weren’t here but he knew they’d be getting the same treatment if they were.

“Hey Nagisa, Kayano!” They paused to allow Sugino to catch up, pretending not to notice the way he eyed their linked arms. Unlike them the baseball fanatic was human, but he didn’t hate their kind like most people did, something which the two of them were thankful for; sure he didn’t know what they were, but that didn’t mean they appreciated it any less.

“Did you hear about the ghoul sighting a few days ago?” The three of them jolted slightly in surprise, turning to face Fuwa as they walked. He felt Kaede’s grip tighten briefly, sure they did a decent job of hiding who they were but there was always the fear that someone would figure them out.

“Ghoul sighting?” He’d briefly forgotten Sugino was next to them and mentally thanked the other boy for asking for them. Fuwa was practically buzzing with excitement as she pulled out her phone, how she got a connection up here they didn’t know and at this point they didn’t feel like questioning it. Nagisa furrowed his brow in confusion when he saw the picture; he didn’t need to look to know Kaede was doing the same.

“Neat huh? There isn’t any information about them yet but still, kinda cool right?” The picture was grainy but even if it wasn’t Nagisa doubted it would help much. The head looked entirely too big to be natural but he couldn’t think of a single reason why a ghoul would get a mask in that size, and what was with the tentacles? Sure, it could be a Rinkaku, but he’d never seen one like that before. He exchanged a subtle glance with Kaede, looks like they’d be having another meet-up sooner than expected.

“Come on guys, we can talk more about it later.” He mentally thanked Sugino before continuing the long trek, Kaede finally releasing his arm in favour of clutching her bag strap. While it was relieving to know that the ghoul sighting wasn’t any of them this time – _cough_ Itona _cough_ – it still meant that there was someone new in their territory, and that was rarely a good thing.

As they approached the building that served as their classroom, Nagisa felt a slight chill against his neck, something wasn’t right. Judging by the slight furrow of her brow, Kaede felt it too. They took their seats quietly, eyeing the door while the rest of their classmates filtered in. No sign of their teacher.

He wasn’t sure how long they’d been waiting for when they showed up; the suits and too-formal way of walking were enough of an indication that they were government officials. If anyone were to look at them, they’d be displaying a similar level of shock as the rest of their classmates, but deep down they were scared. Sure, the suits they were wearing didn’t match the white of the agency responsible for hunting ghouls – none of them were holding one of those damn suitcases either – and there wasn’t a tranquiliser dart in sight but that didn’t mean they were safe. Two more figures entered the room, Nagisa tensed slightly when he saw the taller one.

“Hello, how are you?” It was him. The ‘ghoul’ from the article Fuwa showed them. “So, I’m the one who blew up the moon.” What? “Next year I intend to do the same to planet Earth. But never mind that now, I’m gonna be your new teacher, isn’t that exciting?” They didn’t even have time to process _that_ statement before the agent next to him spoke up.

“I’m Karasuma from the Ministry of Defence.” Nagisa chanced a glance at Kaede, she’d paled slightly but her composure was otherwise unbroken. “First, please understand what I’m about to say is classified information.” The man paused for a moment, sighing wearily before pressing on. “I’ll just come right out with it; I want you to kill this creature.” The two of them barely heard the rest of the conversation, something about a reward and the weapons they’d be provided, one thought already occupying their minds; this year just got a whole lot harder.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur, a few students took a test-shot or two, the uneasiness with the weapons clear. The two of them lingered outside the building while the others left, pulling out their phones to communicate with the others, not wanting to risk a verbal conversation in case they were overheard.

**> NS: **We have a problem.

**> AK: **what kind of problem?

**> KK: **Gang problem.

**> IH: **shit

**> AK: **don’t fucking swear in front of the child.

**> IH: **what fucking child?

**> AK: **blue

**> NS: **…

**> AK: **I’m going to die later aren’t I?

**> NS: **:)

**> IH: **usual spot?

**> KK: **Usual spot.

They signed off after that, finally beginning their own trek home, though they both knew they’d be taking the long routes today. The silence didn’t last long, not that he really expected it to.

“So, Karma huh?” He groaned at the question, mock-glaring when he heard her laugh. They didn’t bother with the codenames in public, partially because no one else knew they weren’t human, and partially because people would probably find them referring to each other as colours weird.

“Are you finished?” He sighed when she finally stopped, he wasn’t sure why she found it as amusing as she did, maybe she just liked teasing him? Yeah that was probably it.

“Sorry. I’m happy for you, really, I am.” Her smile was soft, and while he didn’t doubt the sincerity of her words, a part of him was still suspicious of where this conversation was going. “But it’s only been a few weeks, I know you’ve been friends with him for a while but we’ve only known the two of you for a few months and Karma certainly made a…memorable first impression.” He couldn’t help a brief laugh at that.

“Yeah, well, Karma’s Karma.” Nagisa shook his head fondly; say what you will about the redhead, the boy certainly knew how to make an entrance.

“Karma’s Karma.” Kaede repeated.

The rest of the walk passed in silence, the two of them finally separating when they reached the station.

Neither of them noticed the figure that had been following them.


	3. Battle Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The team discuss their options and preparations are made.

They met in the alleyway as usual though this meeting was noticeably tenser, they didn’t head to the mountain this time, the current situation made it too risky. Instead of taking the winding route they’d mapped out through the alleyways and quieter streets, the four of them scrambled up the fire escape and onto the roof of a nearby building, sure traveling above street-level wasn’t exactly discreet but it was better than encountering the more violent groups in the city. They didn’t climb down until they’d reached a small row of unused warehouses, quickly ducking through the gap in one of the walls.

“Area sweep.” Devil instructed after repositioning some of the empty crates to conceal their makeshift entrance, the four of them making quick work of checking the few potential hiding spots; sure, the warehouses were part of their territory but that didn’t stop some of the more ambitious – or desperate – ghouls occasionally taking up residence.

“Home sweet home.” Frost commented mirthlessly, slipping his mask off before dropping into one of the slightly-rusted chairs with a sigh. “Anyone got anything to eat?” Sure they were nowhere near starving but it was probably for the best to have something now in case they couldn’t meet up again for a while.

“One step ahead of you.” Devil replied, dropping a bag on the table, the other two reached for it immediately while Snake was noticeably more hesitant. “That means you too.” He sighed in defeat, idly counting the cracks in the wall in an attempt to distract himself from the chunk of meat he was currently clutching. He didn’t really need to eat, one well-aimed stab and he’d be good to go, the others weren’t exactly as comfortable with that idea.

“So, what’s the situation?” The white-haired boy asked once they’d finished wiping the blood from their mouths, his expression was as impassive as always but they knew he was worried.

“Where do we even start?” Chameleon sighed, Snake groaned in agreement. The two of them explained what had happened earlier in the day, the others clearly not believing them until the girl showed them the article she’d printed before heading out. Their amused disbelief morphing into dread.

“Well damn.” Devil commented a few moments after they’d finished, accurately summing up their collective mood. “And you say we get ¥10 billion if we take him out?” The scepticism clear in his tone, not that Snake needed to ask why; sure the reward was tempting but even if they were successful there was no guarantee that the offer was genuine.

“What about the gangs? What role do they play?” Frost jumped in, crossing his arms against his chest as though trying to restrain himself. That was the question wasn’t it? Just what were the government agencies up to?

“They’ll be monitoring the old campus, there’s no question about that.” Snake began, the four of them bowing their heads at the thought of not being able to hang out at their safe place for a while.

“What about the students?” The ‘what about you?’ Went unspoken, he narrowly resisted the urge to run a hand through his hair, instead opting to fiddle with the side of his mask.

“Hard to say.” He sighed, sharing a brief glance with Chameleon before continuing. “I highly doubt they’d leave us completely unmonitored, but I also doubt they’d tail us. The target…” He trailed off; damn he was referring to the man? Creature? As a target already? “Well, he isn’t exactly ordinary, even by our standards.” They shared a brief chuckle at that, their spirits lifting momentarily before they continued speaking.

“So, what should our first priority be?” Chameleon asked, idly twirling a lock of artificial-hair around her finger, she’d gone with a black one tonight.

“It’s risky, but it would probably be easier if we were all in the class.” Devil suggested, his voice lacking the usual carefree tone. The idea had some merit, it would be easier for them to share intel and they wouldn’t have to sneak out as often, but still…

“Is that really a good idea?” Chameleon furrowed her brow. “All of us being in the same place? I thought we wanted to avoid that during the day.” It had been the first thing they agreed on when they’d established their group, sure they were stronger together – that had been the main driving force behind their initial alliance after all – but that wouldn’t mean much if they found themselves in the government’s crosshairs.

“My suspension will be ending soon, and Frost here will definitely find some way of involving himself sooner or later.” The white haired boy made no attempt to deny it, not that they would’ve believed him if he had. “Besides, it’ll make coming up with cover stories easier.” Which was a fair point; there was no chance of the government leaving them unsupervised. Sure no one had questioned their – admittedly – odd habits so far but that luck would run out eventually. There was just one slight problem.

“Okay, but how do we get Frost in the class?” Ajins like Devil _technically_ had full citizen rights – at least until their true identity gets discovered – but ghouls? They typically didn’t have any paperwork to prove their existence. Snake chewed his lip in thought, glancing at the dark haired girl in thought.

“What about those papers your sister had hidden away?” He felt a brief pang of guilt when she flinched, Yukimura disappeared a few days ago and while she did a good job of hiding it, the three of them knew Chameleon wasn’t handling it well. The girl merely shook her head.

“We can fill it out sure, but without an adult’s signature the paperwork is worthless.” Even if Frost’s parents were in the picture, their signatures wouldn’t be legally binding since – as far as various government documents were concerned – they didn’t exist and Chameleon’s parents hadn’t been around for a while now.

“Good luck contacting my folks.” Devil scoffed, folding his arms behind his head. Even if they could get in contact with his parents, Snake highly doubted they knew their own son was an ajin, not knowing how they’d react to _that_ news made the three of them hesitant to ask.

“Can’t we just forge the signature?” Frost sighed, slumping in his chair.

“Unfortunately no, the paperwork has to be as air-tight as possible, which means no fake signatures.” Chameleon replied, visibly restraining herself from rubbing her eyes. Snake didn’t bother mentioning his own parents, asking his mother was out of the question and he wasn’t exactly close enough to his father to know how he’d react.

“So what are we meant to do?” The yellow eyed boy groaned, wiping a hand down his face in frustration.

“Perhaps I can help with that.” The four of them leapt to their feet, kagune and knives fully on display as they turned to face their intruder, Snake and Chameleon tensing when they caught site of the mysterious speaker.

“We are so dead.” The girl stated before a jovial laugh echoed around the room.

“Yeah.” He sighed in response. Of all the people to stumble across their hideout, why did it have to be their teacher?


	4. Surprise Assistance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mixing the AU with actual canon events is surprisingly difficult.

They’d been staring their _guest_ down for at least a few minutes before reluctantly sitting back down, he knew who they were now – knew _what_ they were – and they were smart enough to know that starting a fight wasn’t worth it. He didn’t seem surprised though whether or not his facial expression _could_ change was a different matter.

“I have to say I wasn’t expecting the secret to be spilled this soon.” Snake and Chameleon tensed again, this wasn’t good. “You can take the masks off children; your secret is safe with me.” Strangely enough, Snake found himself believing him, a quick glance at the others confirming that they felt the same. The three who were still wearing their masks pulled them off cautiously, Snake and Chameleon chose to leave their wigs – mostly because they were awkward to put back on – the latter still had her face paint though it was slightly smudged.

“Yeah, well, we kind of _have_ to know about things that could cause some problems for us.” The redhead commented offhandedly, he sounded relaxed but the rest of them could detect the hostility easy enough. Their visitor seemed to have noticed it too, tentacles waving in panic as he jumped in to provide reassurance.

“I didn’t mean to imply you didn’t have a good reason, it was just an observation.” He should’ve probably started with that, Nagisa thought to himself, mentally dropping the codenames now that they weren’t needed. “Although I do have to say that it looks like things will prove to be interesting from here on out.” He was taking this revelation surprisingly well, though given his own…unique appearance that was probably to be expected.

“You’re not at all concerned that people like us are in your class?” Kayano blurted out, ducking her head immediately afterwards. The ‘dark’ haired boy reached across the table to rest a hand on her arm, the other two providing their own form of comfort while they waited for the answer.

“Look at me children, am I really in a position to be judging you?” Sure he’d just been thinking it, but having verbal confirmation was strangely relieving, it was clear the others felt the same. “I do admit I’m curious, but I won’t ask for your stories now.” That…that was fair.

“You mentioned you could help, what did you mean by that?” Itona piped up, his expression as unchanging as usual.

“Just leave it to me.” That wasn’t as reassuring as he probably intended it to be, the laughter didn’t really help matters.

***-* *-* *-***

So the massive shootout didn’t work, not that Nagisa really expected it to. The clean-up was easy enough but he imagined it would start getting tedious if they kept using the guns; he would have to note that down later.

“Now that that’s out of the way, I have an announcement.” Murmurs broke out around the class, Nagisa had a feeling he knew what this was about, a quick glance at Kayano confirming she had the same suspicions. “Please welcome our new student, Itona Horibe.” Everyone directed their gaze at the door when they heard it slide open.

Sure they’d known to expect their friend at some stage, but actually seeing him in the Kunugigaoka Junior High uniform instead of his ‘Frost’ getup was strange.

“Would you like to introduce yourself?” The octopus – they really needed to figure out a name at some point – asked, gesturing at the curious expressions of their classmates. Itona glanced around the room, his gaze lingering on the two of them just a tad longer than the others, though Nagisa doubted anyone else had noticed.

“No.” He deadpanned before heading to one of the empty desks at the back, blatantly ignoring their teacher’s floundering at the abrupt dismissal. The blue-haired boy didn’t have to look to know Kaede was biting back a laugh.

The first half of the day was otherwise uneventful, not counting Nakamura being sent to the back for ignoring the new ‘no gunfire in the classroom’ rule - he didn’t have to look to know she would likely try bugging Itona while she was there – no, the real issue didn’t occur until lunchtime.

***-* *-* *-***

“This plan’s stupid.” He glanced to his side, how Itona had managed to sneak off he didn’t know but he supposed it didn’t matter. Another quick glance around the area was enough to confirm the other boys had gone back inside.

“Yeah.” There was no point in denying it, but it’s not as though they had anything else at this stage – well, nothing they could do without revealing themselves anyway.

“Karma’s going to lose his shit.” That was enough to startle a laugh out of him.

***-* *-* *-***

The attempt failed, not that he’d really expected it to; though it had surprised him when their teacher – or ‘Korosensei’ as he should probably be calling him now, thanks Kaede – protected him from the blast. Their target knew what he was – well, he knew part of what he was – and therefore knew that he wouldn’t have been too hurt, but he still protected him? He tried to ignore the warm feeling in his chest at that thought.

***-* *-* *-***

The three of them waited for the others to leave at the end of the day before approaching Korosensei, he must have seen this coming since he hadn’t took off yet.

“I had a feeling you’d want to talk.” The super being stated simply, his – mostly – unchanging expression becoming less unnerving the more they were around him. Nagisa clutched his bag strap nervously, not needing to look to know the others were displaying their own signs of unease.

“You protected me.” His voice was heavy as he forced the words out; he tensed slightly when he felt a tentacle come to rest on his head, hesitantly lifting his gaze. “You didn’t have to, but you did.”

“I won’t allow a student of mine to be hurt if I am able to do something to prevent it.” He swallowed around the lump forming in his throat, releasing his white-knuckled grasp and allowing the tension to bleed out of his shoulders.

“You really mean it?” Kaede piped up from his side, her gaze carried the same scepticism they all felt. Korosensei reached out to place a tentacle on her shoulder, the quiet grunt from his other side was enough of an indicator that he’d done the same to Itona.

“I may not know the true extent of what you’ve been through, but to me? You’re all my students, Karma too when his suspension ends. I will treat you the same as I would your classmates, not only because you are my students, but because it is what you deserve.” He didn’t say anything else, not that they really needed him to. They’d almost reached the door when he piped up again.

“Oh, and Nagisa,” the boy in question paused, turning to face their teacher while the other two kept walking.

“The red suits you much better.” He inhaled slightly in shock; he actually liked his natural eyes? He didn’t let himself linger on it for long, merely smiled briefly before hurrying off to catch up to the others, they had a lot to think about.


	5. The New Normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter basically turned into a retelling of episode 2.

The baseball attempt didn’t work, not that he’d really expected it too – yeah, he could see that becoming a pattern already – but it was arguably better than some of their other methods.

“Tick tock children. Graduation will be here before you know it.” As if they needed reminding. “Now then, time for homeroom.” They watched him leave, not moving to follow him right away. He glanced at his friend in concern when he saw the other boy slump in defeat.

“Well, so much for my fastball. Big shock there I guess.” He sighed.

“It was a good throw.” Nagisa attempted to reassure him but he doubted it worked. He’d have to remember to check up on him later.

***-* *-* *-***

He didn’t get a chance to check on Sugino until lunch time – after a brief appearance from Karasuma anyway – Kaede and Itona already knew what he’d been planning and were instead choosing to hang out with some of their other classmates; well, Kaede was, Itona seemed dead-set on escaping the room whenever he had the chance.

Sugino was already involved in a conversation with Korosensei when Nagisa spotted him, though ‘conversation’ probably wasn’t the word. His eyes widening in shock when he saw the baseball enthusiast suspended in the air.

“The deal was that you couldn't hurt any of us!” He called out in panic; body tensing to keep his kagune reigned in. Their teacher’s next words had the tension shakily bleeding back out.

“Sugino. That unusual pitching form I saw earlier, you’re trying to copy major-league pitcher Arita aren’t you?” What did that have to do with anything? Sure he was happy that the octopus hadn’t been trying to kill – or at the very least hurt – one of his friends, but that still didn’t explain what he’d been trying to do. Sugino didn’t respond verbally but the lowered gaze was clearly all the answer Korosensei needed.

“Your shoulder muscles are out of whack compared to Arita’s.” What?

“What’s that supposed to mean?” The baseball enthusiast narrowed his eyes, Nagisa watched his friend in concern.

“You won’t be able to pitch his super-fastballs with that body, no matter how much you try to imitate him.” He felt a surge of anger welling up on the other boy’s behalf.

“How? How can you be so sure?” His tone was dark, though it didn’t seem to faze their teacher much; the octopus merely launching into the point he’d been trying to make as though he hadn’t almost had a kagune slashing at him.

Nagisa watched Sugino consider the teacher’s words for a few moments before hurrying after the super-being.

“Korosensei!” He called out. “Did you go to New York just to give Sugino advice?” He asked when he managed to catch up.

“Of course, I’m his teacher.” The man responded as though that explained everything, something which was starting to become a theme with him.

“Most teachers wouldn’t go anywhere near that far but you will? The guy who’s going to destroy the Earth?” He felt a brief stab of guilt for bringing that up but the irony was difficult to ignore. Korosensei was silent for a short stretch of time and Nagisa was just about to apologise for bringing it up when the octopus finally spoke up.

“Nagisa, I became your teacher to uphold a promise I made.” The boy furrowed his brow in confusion, a promise? A tentacle plucked the book he’d been carrying from his hand. “While I do intend to destroy the Earth, I’m your teacher first and foremost.” He continued before handing the book back. “Taking you kids seriously is more important than the end of the world.”

“Korosensei…” He began, trailing off when he caught sight of the feedback written at the end of his work. “I could do without the weird extra questions on the back though.” The teacher floundered for a few moments, chewing his pen while he ranted before becoming serious again.

“Though I do have to apologise.” Huh? He glanced up at that, Korosensei’s smile somehow managing to appear sheepish despite remaining unchanged. “I didn’t consider how my attempt to assist your classmate would appear to others, especially considering the recent conversation I had with you, Kayano and Itona. I do hope that you can forgive me.” Well, he couldn’t really say no could he? The boy thought with a smile.

***-* *-* *-***

“Wow!” He yelled, his tone laced with shock as the ball bounced off his glove before landing somewhere on the hill behind him. “That broke so fast it practically disappeared!” Which for a ghoul – even an artificial one like him – was high praise, not that his friend knew that.

“I'm working on a curveball that puts my elbows and wrists to good use!” Nagisa threw the ball back to him, smiling as he listened to the other boy talk. “Even my slow fastball will look speedy when I mix up the two! I'm sure they'd both just put him to sleep, though.” He didn’t seem upset by it this time, something which the blue-haired boy was happy about.

He stuck around to watch the baseball enthusiast take a few more shots at their teacher, slipping his notebook from his pocket while his brow furrowed in thought. If they were serious about going through with this whole ‘assassination’ thing it would probably be wise to keep noting things down.

***-* *-* *-***

The next two attempts had similar levels of success; Korosensei easily saw through the first, and he was fast enough that even his slight miscalculation wasn’t enough for the second to work.

Karasuma was apparently assigned as their gym teacher now; Nagisa couldn’t help the brief shiver that went down his spine when they’d found out _that_ little detail. He didn’t have anything against the man; they hadn’t really known him long enough for that. However, he was still a government agent and – while there was no denying his commitment to the current objective – that made him dangerous.


	6. A Devil In Human Clothing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Devil finds out & the team plan their next move.

That evening saw the four of them once again gathered in the old warehouse, partially to give the ghouls a chance to eat, and partially because it would probably be smart to come up with a game plan before Devil meets ~~traumatises~~ the rest of their classmates. Right, speaking of their classmates…

“They did _what?_ ” The redhead growled. Snake cringed beneath his mask, why did they have to tell him about the grenade? He felt the taller boy’s hands grip his shoulders, red eyes scanning his face – well, the parts the mask didn’t hide anyway – in concern “were you hurt?” He couldn’t help but roll his eyes, though he did make sure to keep any actual annoyance from showing. The famed Devil of Tokyo could be such a worrywart at times.

“No.” Korosensei had seen to that. “Besides it’s not like it would’ve mattered if I had been.” His ghoul healing likely wasn’t on the same level as their teacher’s but even if it wasn’t it’s not like it would’ve actually killed him, not in any way that counted. Devil narrowed his eyes, grip tightening momentarily before releasing him.

“Wouldn’t have mattered?” His tone was cold, the other two glanced at them but made no move to interfere, not that Snake really expected them too. “Is that really what you think?” He didn’t bother replying, his silence was answer enough. “Look at me.” He glanced up hesitantly, freezing in place when he felt the straps on his mask being undone.

“Devil?” He blinked in confusion when a hand gently cupped his cheek, leaning into it after a moment of hesitation.

“You think that just because you can’t die it doesn’t matter if you’re hurt?” He merely shrugged. “Damn it.” The redhead sighed before pulling him into a hug. Snake glanced at the other two over the boy’s shoulder, they looked just as confused as he felt but they still didn’t say anything.

“Red?” The other boy pulled away, though he couldn’t help but notice the hesitation.

“It matters okay? Don’t ever say that it doesn’t matter if you get hurt.” He reluctantly agreed, sighing in relief when the other boy seemed to drop the subject.

“Are you two done with your lovers’ spat now?” Frost called over to them, Snake felt heat building in his cheeks and quickly yanked his mask back on to hide it, doing his best to ignore Chameleon’s laughter as they headed back to the table.

“So what’s the plan?” The girl asked, the mood becoming serious again as they looked over the – disappointingly small – list of weaknesses they’d already found.

“Well, he already knows I’m not human so he’ll definitely be cautious.” Cautious wasn’t exactly the right word, but he would definitely be aware of the taller boy’s presence. “Especially considering my reputation.” Snake merely snorted in reply, that was putting it lightly.

“So what can we use?” The white haired boy asked, idly fiddling with the knife while they talked. That was the problem wasn’t it? Even with their government-provided weapons there wasn’t much they could use – not at this stage anyway – and their kagune weren’t an option unless they could get the target alone, assuming they would be of any use that is. Snake raised a brow when he saw the ‘purple’ haired girl glance between him and Devil.

“What about those ghosts or whatever you call them?” He jolted in his seat, barely managing to keep himself from falling while Devil clenched his fists against his sides. He forced himself to relax when he saw the way the other two froze, harshly reminding himself that it was only a suggestion.

“No!” Devil snarled, cringing when the other two flinched. Snake reached over, rubbing his back in an attempt to provide comfort.

“It’s too risky.” The shorter boy explained. “The ghosts, we can’t always control them, and they’re dangerous.” He swallowed around the lump forming in his throat. “If we lose control, and they go after one of the others…” He trailed off, shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of the mental image.

“Okay, no ghosts.” The girl agreed. The softness of her tone would’ve sounded pitying had it been anyone else, but they’d known each other long enough for it not to bother them.

“So what does that leave us with?” Frost asked again, his voice was as monotone as always but they could detect a small hint of concern, Snake made a mental note to apologise later.

“Considering how little we know about his weaknesses? Not a lot.” The ‘dark’ haired boy sighed, he knew they didn’t have much chance of killing him this early, but it was still disheartening. Devil merely furrowed his brow in thought.

“What about those _knives_ they gave you?” The emphasis on the word ‘knives’ was enough of an indicator as to how he felt about them, not that the others could blame him, harmless to humans but able to damage their target? It was kind of difficult to believe. Snake merely rooted around in his backpack for a few seconds before handing him the green blade.

“You seriously had that with you?” Chameleon deadpanned at him, he merely shrugged in reply, he hadn’t planned on bringing it with him initially but he had a feeling Devil would want to look one over before getting his own.

“Huh, it really is harmless.” The ‘dark’ haired boy turned his attention back to the redhead, watching as he slashed the air experimentally before folding it. “Do you reckon they’d be mad if we chopped up one of their toys?” They’d known him long enough to realise he was joking, though it wasn’t as if the thought of angering a few government officials would be enough to stop him anyway.

“What are you planning this time?” The ‘purple’ haired girl piped up before Snake had the chance to. Devil merely smirked, sending a brief shiver of dread down their spines.

“Just…don’t do anything too reckless alright?” The answering laugh was not at all reassuring.


	7. The Demon of 3-E

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically just a summary of episode 3 with a few AU elements, the plot heavy chapters are coming I swear.

Okay so having Mr. Karasuma in charge of their gym class wasn’t as bad as he’d initially thought, though that was mostly because he didn’t seem suspicious of them yet and there was always time for _that_ to change.

“A quiz in sixth period, eh?” He smiled in sympathy when he heard his friend groan, sure being a ghoul meant that Nagisa didn’t get fatigued as easily but most of the class – Sugino included – didn’t have that benefit. He was about to reply when a flash of red distracted him.

“Hey Nagisa.” He didn’t need to look to know the rest of the class had stopped to watch, Kaede and Itona coming to stand next to him as Karma approached. He didn’t stop when he was near them, merely carried on walking until he was directly in front of Korosensei. He couldn’t hear much of the conversation from where he was standing, but he could see it just fine when one of their teacher’s tentacles exploaded.

“Whoa!” Korosensei reeled back just as Karma tossed his drink in the air, his knife didn’t hit but it was still impressive. He didn’t need to hear the conversation to know that the redhead was currently trying to rile him up, something which proved successful if the brief flash of red on the target’s face was anything to go by. He briefly heard the other boy mention something about assassination before an arm was draping itself around his shoulders.

“Hi.” He greeted as though he hadn’t just attempted to stab Korosensei, Nagisa could feel the others’ eyes on them but chose to ignore it for the time being.

“Hey.” He laughed when he heard Sugino’s choked ‘what?!’ He’d forgot that not everyone knew the two of them hung out.

“Alright get a room you two!” Kaede called over, grinning in amusement, Itona didn’t say anything but he was nodding in agreement. Nagisa merely smiled sheepishly in response, he was about to move away when the arm around his shoulders tightened.

“Oh we will.” Karma smiled brightly, the two of them ignoring the expressions of amusement – Kayano and Itona – and shock – everyone else – as they began heading to the classroom. They couldn’t help but laugh when they heard Korosensei’s panicked ‘NO!’

***-* *-* *-***

Karma’s second attempt followed a similar pattern, though Nagisa could tell the redhead wasn’t serious yet. No, right now he was having fun.

“I’ll just keep using the same old tricks. I don’t even care if it interferes with class.” Yeah he was definitely enjoying this. “If you don’t like it, feel free to kill me or anyone else here.” Nagisa raised a brow though he knew the other boy couldn’t see it, sure their teacher might not know about his ajin status – as far as they were aware he only knew that the redhead liked hanging out with ghouls – but even if he did Nagisa doubted he’d take him up on that. The taller boy left shortly afterwards though Nagisa knew he wouldn’t go far.

***-* *-* *-***

The three of them met up with him part way down the mountain trail, Nagisa didn’t even think about it when he raised a hand, a drink carton landing in it a second later. Karma merely smiled before lifting his own to his mouth.

“Oh come on, where’s ours?” Kaede whined, though the amused grin on her face was enough of an indicator that she was joking. Itona stood slightly behind her giving – what was probably meant to be – his version of puppy dog eyes which only succeeded in making him look mildly horrified.

“Hmm.” Karma stared at them in ‘consideration’ chewing his straw for a few moments before tossing a carton at each of them. Kaede managed to catch hers though Itona’s bounced comically off his head, he pouted when the three of them laughed before reaching down to pick it up.

“So, your place?” The green haired girl asked, latching onto Itona’s arm while Karma laced his fingers in Nagisa’s.

“My place.” The redhead nodded in confirmation, ‘green’ eyes glinting in excitement for tomorrow.

***-* *-* *-***

The attempt in homeroom didn’t work, though Nagisa would admit it was amusing seeing the expression on Karma’s face when their teacher gave him food instead of a more traditional punishment.

Math class wasn’t much better, only succeeding in irritating the redhead. Nagisa started the countdown timer in his head; it was only a matter of time before Karma did something reckless.

The Home Ec attempt was a bit – okay, a lot – more farfetched and the ‘punishment’ was still as bizarre as the last two. While he did find it slightly amusing, Nagisa could almost feel the timer in his head speed up.

He didn’t watch the attempt in Japanese class, not that he really needed to. Korosensei’s tone was taunting and Nagisa felt the timer in his head tick down to zero.

***-* *-* *-***

He wasn’t surprised to find him at their usual hangout, though he did feel uneasy when he spotted him sitting on the tree growing awkwardly from the side of the cliff. Sure he knew Karma had good balance, and it’s not like the fall would kill him anyway but still.

“Teachers, eh?” The boy scoffed, Nagisa merely furrowed his brow in concern, he didn’t like where this was going.

“Karma?” They both turned to face the octopus, Nagisa felt a brief pang of dread, it wasn’t that he disliked the teacher but now _really_ wasn’t a good time. “I’ve certainly taken good care of you today, haven’t I?” Oh no. “You can still try to kill me you know, I’ll polish you up even shinier.” Karma merely took a breath before standing.

“Just to be clear…you are a teacher, right?” Nagisa glanced at him in suspicion, where was this going?

“Right.” Korosensei’s tone was the same as always but there was a slight hint of confusion in his voice, so he could tell there was something off too?

“And you would, say, risk your life to protect one of your students?” He sounded calm but Nagisa saw the familiar glint in his eyes, he gulped in anticipation, just what was the taller boy planning?

“Of course. I’m a teacher after all.” He really didn’t like the smile on the redhead’s face.

“Okay, good. Then I can kill you.” He raised the gun. “For sure.” Time seemed to slow down as the blue haired boy watched him fall. He felt himself dart forward, stopping only when he felt a tentacle wrap around his waist ‘what?’ He tried to glance back at his teacher but a brief gust of wind had him glancing back over the cliff, Korosensei was actually going after him? He felt himself drop to his knees when he saw the tentacle net – and he was adding that to the list of phrases he never thought he’d find himself using.

“Nagisa?” He whipped round to see Karma standing behind him, hands in his pockets as though he hadn’t just fallen off a cliff. He didn’t even think before launching himself at him; they stumbled a bit and he was idly aware of Karma catching them while he fisted his hands against the boy’s back.

“You idiot!” He buried his face in the taller boy’s chest, distantly aware of arms wrapping around him. “Never do that again!” Was he overreacting? Maybe, did he care? No.

“Now you know how I felt.” Nagisa felt the arms around him tighten as though to say he was joking. They stayed like that for a few more minutes before separating, he only caught a few fragments of Karma and Korosensei’s conversation but he did laugh when he saw the boy walk away with their teacher’s purse. Hopefully they wouldn’t have any more near death moments.


	8. A New Challenger Approaches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The arrival of everyone’s favourite bitch. Again, sorry about the amount of summarising compared to actual AU moments, things will amp up eventually.

If there was one thing none of them had expected to see that morning, it was the sight of a blonde woman clinging to Korosensei. Was this a fever dream? It had to be.

“Now, allow me to introduce your brand new temporary foreign-language teacher.” Mr. K was as professional as usual though Nagisa could tell he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the situation, was it because she was a civilian? Or was there something else going on? The boy narrowed his eyes in thought.

“Irina Jelavic.” The woman introduced herself. “Nice to meet you all!” She appeared pleasant enough, but there was something about her that had him on edge. He idly listened to some of his classmates’ comments, if any of them had their own suspicions they weren’t voicing them, not that he expected them too.

“The School intends to give you an authentic experience in foreign languages.” Mr. K explained, though Nagisa couldn’t help but doubt his words. If the school really intended to go that far the other classes would get first priority – and they’d be bragging about it enough that E class would’ve already been aware _before_ they arrived at homeroom.

He didn’t pay attention to whatever was said next, instead sliding his gaze over to Kaede, a subtle nod confirming she felt the same. There was definitely something going on and he didn’t like it.

***-* *-* *-***

So, she was an assassin, that made a lot more sense than the initial story they were told. Nagisa couldn’t help but wonder if the Ministry of Defence had lost their minds. Sure, he could understand it from an analytical point of view but still, an assassin around junior high kids? There was no telling what could happen.

“You must be Nagisa Shiota right?” Oh crap, what was she planning?

…

She was kissing him. Just what the hell was going on today?

“Come to the staffroom later.” He didn’t like the sound of that, and judging by the murderous intent he could feel coming from his team, they didn’t either. “I’d like to see what you have on him.” That made more sense but did she really have to kiss him?

He didn’t pay much attention to the rest of her speech, though he did feel his hand curl into a fist when she mentioned something about killing whoever got in her way. Regardless of how the rest of the day went, they needed to talk about this.

***-* *-* *-***

Despite his initial reluctance, he did end up meeting her in the staffroom. Like it or not she was _technically_ a teacher – and therefore had authority over them – and besides, regardless of how…unusual her entrance had been, she was still an assassin, which made her a good ally for the time being. He wasn’t sure whether or not she’d actually listened to any of the intel he gave her, but he supposed it didn’t really matter at this stage.

***-* *-* *-***

Their first class with her wasn’t exactly productive. Sure it wasn’t unheard of for regular teachers to decide on a study hall instead of an actual lesson but something told him this wouldn’t be a one-off.

“I get that she's a pro, but she's not exactly easy to get along with.” Kataoka informed Mr. K of their shared opinion as they watched the assassin and Korosensei head to the supply shed near the old building.

“Yes, I know.” He seemed to share their reluctance, though if she was here because of his higher ups it wasn’t like he’d be able to do much. That thought didn’t sit well with Nagisa, sure he and the others might still be sceptical of Mr. K but they’d thought he’d have more influence considering his role in this. “I'm sorry you kids have to deal with her but the higher-ups seemed to think that she's all that.” Yeah, there was definitely something wrong with whoever the decision maker was.

The attempt failed, though it wasn’t as if that surprised them anymore, not that it ever really did.

***-* *-* *-***

“Besides, I know you E Class students are the school's loser misfits.” This wasn’t going to end well. Nagisa ducked when the stationary started flying.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Kaede yelled from the seat next to him, she was getting _way_ too into this. “Down with big boobs!” Wait what?

“That’s your complaint?” Nagisa yelled over to her, the muffled laughter from the back of the room informed him that Karma and Itona had heard what was going on. Some help they were.

***-* *-* *-***

The apology had been unexpected but Nagisa wasn’t complaining. They couldn’t be sure how genuine it was yet, though she did seem earnest even for an assassin of her calibre.

“My place tonight.” Itona didn’t say anything else before heading out, not that he needed to.

***-* *-* *-***

Snake adjusted his mask as he walked, one of the straps was starting to wear out; it would probably hold for another few uses but he needed to get a replacement soon.

“Evening.” Devil greeted from behind him, the boy’s hood was up this time, a reasonable precaution for the meet-up spot they’d chosen. Frost didn’t linger in one place for long; it made it difficult to judge the safety of their meetings when he was the one to call them.

They found him and Chameleon near the underpass that most of the ghouls in town seemed to frequent, though it was strangely vacant tonight.

“Huh, no one’s here.” Devil commented, Snake idly noticed he sounded impressed. “How’d you manage that?” The red head quirked a brow.

“You say that as though it was a challenge.” Frost replied. It was a fair comment, sure they were hardly the only group in town, and they definitely weren’t the largest, but most would prefer to avoid a fight if possible which suited them just fine.

“Guys, we’re not here to talk about that.” Chameleon interrupted, Snake nodding in agreement. They couldn’t visit the warehouse as often as they visited the mountain, but there were very few safe locations for them to meet and this definitely wasn’t one of them.

“She’s right.” The ‘dark’ haired boy began. “We have to be quick this time.” He hadn’t even been able to bring any ‘food’ with him this time, not wanting to risk being caught walking around with human body parts, especially not in this part of town.

“So, what exactly are we deciding here?” Devil asked, leaning against the wall in an attempt to appear casual. “Whether or not our new acquaintance is a threat? Or can we trust her?”

“She’s a threat, plain and simple.” Frost piped up. “She’s helping us for the time being, but we can’t forget she already threatened to kill whoever got in her way, and as far as she knows we’re just normal kids.” It was a valid concern; one that Snake couldn’t deny sharing.

“What about her apology? Do you think we can trust it?” Chameleon idly fiddled with the bandages around her eyes, smudging some of her face paint in the process.

“Hard to say.” Snake replied with a sigh, he was familiar with false apologies but Bitch-sensei’s felt genuine. “I don’t think she was lying, but that doesn’t mean she won’t go back on it if she thinks it’s necessary.” They didn’t know much about how assassins operated which made judging her decisions difficult, regardless of how earnest they seemed.

“That still doesn’t really answer the question.” Frost sighed.

“I think we can trust her when it comes to the mission.” Snake began. “But we should still consider her a threat for the time being.” He wanted to believe she wouldn’t try anything but that wasn’t a luxury they could afford at this stage.

“So, we trust her to help with the assassination but we don’t actually trust her, I got that right?” Devil asked though it was clear he already understood. Snake merely nodded in agreement, there wasn’t really anything else they could do.


End file.
